


Scenes of Angaran Love

by Lafaiette



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor, Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-11-01 15:05:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 1,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10924320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lafaiette/pseuds/Lafaiette
Summary: Six vignettes basedthis post, exploring Jaal and Ryder's relationship through cute headcanons.





	1. For Starters

“So… theoretically speaking…” Ryder looks up at him, smiling. “How many kids would you like?”

A deep purple blush spreads over Jaal’s cheeks and he squeezes her, his big arms wrapped around her in a warm, comfy embrace. The stars outside the windows of their cabin are more beautiful than ever tonight and she asked SAM to dim the lights.

He clears his throat, nuzzles her hair, and then asks quickly, looking for a way to gain more time: “How many would _you_ like?”

“Hey, I asked you first!” she laughs, tugging at his Rofjinn; Jaal chuckles, but he is still bashful and his eyes implore her to answer first. So she hums, smiling, and says quietly: “It would be nice to start with more than one. This way they won’t feel alone and they will grow up together. Scott and I know how important that can be.”

Jaal lightens up like the stars outside and his bioelectricity runs faster, making the faint hair on her neck and arms stand up.

“I was thinking the same thing!”

“I’m not surprised.” she chuckles, kissing his cheek. “Angara love big, large families, after all.” She arches an eyebrow, her smile turning into a playful smirk. “So? Any precise numbers?”

“Well…” He looks away, smiling shyly, but his arms refuse to even let her move an inch. He rubs his cheek on the top of her head, rubbing circles on her waist, and murmurs timidly: “Six human babies and six angaran babies would be pretty good.”

She chokes on her saliva and splutters something before being able to reply. Her voice sounds like a squeak.

“ _Twelve_ kids?”

“For starters!” Jaal beams at her, a wide grin on his blushing face, and she stares up at him for a long moment, before letting her lips curl into a smile.

“For starters.” she repeats and Jaal nods, hopeful, before getting timid again.

“You… You thought about this before?”

He nods again, smiling shyly and averting his eyes a second time.

Before he can panic or think she doesn’t want the same, she kisses him and holds his face in her hands, looking deep into his eyes, watching the color on his cheeks get darker.

“That, honey, sounds like an excellent idea.”

Jaal looks ready to lift her up and twirl her around the whole room; he sends happy electrical signals through her skin and a joyful, loud laugh coming from his belly fills the entire cabin and her heart.


	2. "Lowkey" Anxious

“Jaal, this is choking me! The old version of my armor was sturdy enough!”

“Nonsense.” He grunts, loosening one clasp just a little, then he checks if the others are alright.

He asked to modify her armor - “improve” is what he really said - and he came up with some sort of collar, heavy and tight.

The only problem is that it’s not exactly comfortable and her neck is already getting sore, while her lungs are wondering why she is breathing less oxygen than usual today.

“Jaal, really, _I can’t breathe_.”

He makes a tiny sound of surprise, then huffs and opens another clasp. Ryder sighs, relieved, and hurries to breathe as much air as possible before he panics again and changes his mind.

“Jaal, honey, I appreciate the thought, but this wasn’t really necessary.” she says, smiling at him, but he sniffles, giving her an indignant look.

“It _is_ necessary!” he exclaims, fire in his eyes, which then turn into the eyes of a sad, concerned puppy. “What if a Roekkar stab you in the neck?”

“My old armor…”

“Our _firaan_ are very powerful, especially if used well.” He glares at her, but that only makes her smile and rolls her eyes, because this kind of glare is totally adorable and born out of love. He gasps, a terrible, cursed image invading his mind.

“What if a sniper aim at your neck?”

“Jaal, human necks aren’t so fragile.”

“Yours is _thin_.” Is his lower lip trembling? “I can see veins underneath your skin, Darling One. They are incredibly beautiful and also incredibly frightening to me, because your whole life is flowing in them and…”

“Alright, alright.” she sighs, defeated, and motions him to keep checking and modifying the collar. “I’ll add it to my armor configuration. Noted. It’s official, now. Got it, SAM?”

“I ‘got it’, Pathfinder.”

“Great! See?” She grins at Jaal, who looks like the happiest alien in Heleus. “Just… do me a favor, honey.”

“Whatever you need, Darling One!”

“I need to _breathe_ , so please, unclasp another buckle for me.”


	3. Practice

“ _Paavoa_.” Ryder bites her lips, knowing something is wrong with her pronunciation. “ _Paa~voa._ Uh.”  She scoots closer to the edge of the bed, which is covered by datapads and pages about the Shelesh _lingua franca_ , and takes one of the documents that fell on the floor.

“SAM…” she whines, scratching her head. “I will never be able to greet Jaal’s family on Meridian if I continue like this!”

She hears a sound coming from the door and realizes she left it open: Jaal is leaning against it, sheer adoration shining in his eyes, and she knows he has been listening to her whole “Shelesh practice time”.

“Oh, come on.” she groans, her face turning beetle red. “This isn’t nice at all, Jaal.”

He slowly moves from the door to sit at her side on the bed; he doesn’t say anything as he gently cradles her face in his broad hands and kisses her, a deep, passionate kiss that leaves her hungry for more.

“Darling One…” he murmurs, love written all over his face. “I love you.”

She chuckles, blushing deeply, and takes his hand.

“I love you, too, Jaal.”

They spend the rest of the evening reading Shelesh and Jaal corrects her pronunciation with patience and kindness, caressing her hair and guiding her lips with his.


	4. Part Of The Family

“Here is my list of the guests, Darling One!”

Ryder takes the datapad he’s handing her and smiles: as she expected, the list is long, including far-away relatives living on Voeld and Aya, and close friends who are basically part of the family as well.

She scrolls down the list, opening her mouth to say something about her own - which includes only Scott, Mom, the Tempest crew, Doctor Carlyle, Captain Dunn, and her superiors -, when the number in the top right corner of the screen catches her attention.

It reads: _2,008 entries_.

Her eyes widen and she keeps scrolling, using her index finger.

The list seems to _never end_.

Her fingertip starts to hurt.

“Jaal.” she croaks out, looking up at his beautiful, smiling, happy face. “More than two thousand people…?”

“Yes!” He chuckles, apparently embarrassed. “I know, they are not that many. I heard some families on Voeld had more than five thousand guests.”

Ryder takes a deep breath, not really able to imagine such a big number of people belonging to the same family, all gathered to take part to one of their relatives’ marriage.

Then she smiles at Jaal, who is reading the list from above her shoulder and muttering something about the order of the tables and seats, and asks: “Will there be enough space for everyone?”

“Of course!” He kisses her cheek, his eyes and his smile sweet and loving. “Scott and your mother will sit at the main table, with my mothers and my siblings. They belong to the most important part of the family, after all.”

That gets him a full kiss on the lips and another one on his neck, which makes him laugh and wrap his arms around her.


	5. Hugs

The first time Jaal gives her a surprise hug using his special ability, Ryder almost has a heartattack.

She is so scared she can’t even scream, but as soon as her brain understands what happened and who is hugging her, she calms down and starts laughing, tilting her head backward to receive Jaal’s kiss.

The second time he does it, she is more prepared and kind of expects it, but it still catches her off guard. She gasps, startled, but once again Jaal’s gentle, tight hug sends a wave of warmth – and tickling bioelectricity – all down her body and they laugh together, kissing again.

The third time, she recognizes the slight vibration in the air just before he activates his ability and she turns just in time to welcome _him_ in _her_ arms.

“Gotcha!” she giggles, peppering his face with kisses, and he has never looked prouder.


	6. Home

A bitter, young angara on Aya calls her _vesagara_ while she and Jaal are cuddling in their favorite spot, a bench near one of the terraces overlooking the contrasting landscape of the planet.

She has seen Jaal angry before – angry at the kett, at the exiles, at the angara on Kadara, at _Kadara_ , at Akksul -, but she has never seen him so _furious_ before.

He slowly gets up, turning to the angara with what looks like murder in his eyes. The young man deflates a little, losing a great part of his courage as Jaal’s bulkier form approaches.

Still, he doesn’t step back or apologize and he faces him with his fists closed, ready to strike.

“What?” the angara barks, trying to hide his fear. “That’s what your _taoshay_ is. A filthy alien. Uprooted and far from her home.”

“She _is_ home.” Jaal retorts and he doesn’t listen when she tries to bring him back to the bench, telling him everything is fine and there is really need to do this.

“She is a _vesagara_.” the other angara hisses, glaring at her. “This will never be her home.”

And that’s how Jaal punches a fellow angara right in front of everyone, hitting him so hard the poor guy loses consciousness even before reaching the ground.

That’s also how Evfra gets angry at him before learning what happened and defending him when Paraan Shie comes to investigate the commotion.

It’s also how Jaal forces the same angara he punched to apologize to Ryder - whose cheeks are tinted a never-seen-before shade of red – and how he indirectly lets everyone know he will do it again if someone dares call her like that again.

“Jaal.” she calls him softly, as they go back to the ship. Word of what happened is spreading fast in the city and every angara they see turn around to watch them. “Jaal, thank you.”

He stops, looking at her with an intense look in his eyes, love, adoration, and respect all mixed together to form the most beautiful look in the world.

“You are home, _taoshay_.” he says, taking her hands. “And you are _my_ home. Never doubt this.”

She smiles and strokes his cheek, rising on her tip-toes to kiss him. Then they head to the Tempest hand in hand, ready to explore new stars and create that new world they will admire while holding each other close.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the last chapter! Thank you for all your comments and kudos, I'll try to get back to Give Yourself To Harmony asap, my health is finally getting better <3

**Author's Note:**

> My health still sucks, so updates for Give Yourself To Harmony will be a bit slow. I apologize ;_; 
> 
> An Anon on Tumblr requested me this and it was so adorable I couldn't refuse - since I can't write much these days, I decided to give it a try and see if I could keep things brief. It's been useful, since I really need to learn how to write less sometimes ; v ; Also, those headcanons are fantastic, bless thismyshipthismyship. 
> 
> I'll update this daily!


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